RUMORS may have triggered a shooting spree at the Philippine Military Academy (PMA).
PMA spokesperson Major Cheryl Tindog said that at 4:50 p.m. Tuesday, September 29, three enlisted personnel assigned in the academy were involved in a shooting incident that killed one and wounded two others.
On Wednesday, September 30, the Baguio City Police Office (BCPO) Director Colonel Allen Rae Co said the police are working on the charges to be filed against the lone suspect in the shooting.
"Most probably, murder and frustrated murder para sa nasugatan," he said.
Co said the suspect is an Air Force member who approached the two victims and went on a shooting spree using an M16 riffle, causing the death of a fellow Air Force man. Another personnel from Philippine Army was injured.
"Ang sabi po ng ibang mga nakausap natin initially, pakiramdam nitong suspect natin ay kapag may nagkukuwentuhan siya ang pinagkukuwentuhan. As a matter of fact, a few days before this happened, iyong buddy po nitong suspect, kinuha at tinago ang kanyang armas. Itong suspect natin ransacked iyong lockers there, nakakuha ng baril ng iba and then he proceeded doon sa second floor para iconfront iyong dalawa po," said Co.
Tindog said in the initial probe at the PMA, it was revealed that the shooting could be a mental health issue on the side of the shooter.
"Our soldiers, like any other person, may have been silently struggling with such ordeal. Hence, the Academy is now more than ever, committed to attend to the mental health not only of our cadets, but more so of every military personnel," she added.
The PMA said it will continue to provide psycho-social intervention to identify and help personnel who may have mental health problems, similar to what has been done to the cadets.
The names of the involved personnel are being withheld until their next of kin are properly informed. All three personnel were rushed to Fort Del Pilar Station Hospital, but were subsequently transferred to Baguio General Hospital for further treatment.
Tindog said probe continuous for the incident and the cadets who are located far away from the place of incident, remain safe inside their barracks.